The invention relates to a shaving apparatus according to the introductory portion of claim 1.
Such a shaving apparatus is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,950. In this known apparatus the suspension member also forms a skin support rim, which serves for slightly tautening the skin before the external cutter is moved over the skin. Thus, it is achieved that the hairs to be severed are better erected so that they can be severed better and closer to the skin. An even more important function of the skin support rim is to support the skin around the external cutter. This ensures that the pressure on the external cutter does not become too high. An excessive pressure leads to skin injury and irritation because the skin then penetrates further into the hair-entry apertures and can come into contact with the internal cutter. The external cutter is mounted in the holder so as to allow movement in, preferably, any direction. As a result, the shaving surface, which is formed by the outer surface of the external cutter facing the skin, can adapt itself to the shape of the facial area to be shaved. The maximum permissible tilting angle of the external cutter, is determined by the length over which the external cutter projects above the skin support rim. A large projection length gives rise to large pressure peaks on the peripheral parts of the external cutter because the skin support rim cannot properly support the skin, whereas a small projection limits the angle over which the shaving surface is tiltable relative to the holder.
In this shaving apparatus, the angle over which the shaving surface can be tilted is increased by providing that the skin support rim—which forms a suspension member in the sense that it determines the position and the orientation of the external cutter that is resiliently biased against the support rim by spring force—is tiltable relative to the holder.
Although conformability to the shape of the skin to be shaved and to variation in angulation of the shaving apparatus relative to the skin to be shaved is thus improved, and pressure peaks on the external cutter are thus precluded, skin irritation still occurs if the user presses the shaving apparatus against the skin to be shaved with too much force.